Lies My Mother Told Me
by Moxie'sBaBi
Summary: “Ryan Mars. Although on my birth certificate is says Ryan Elizabeth Mars Echolls. Hello, Daddy.” Ryan Mars, at seventeen, has just found her father, and found that her mother has been lying to her, her whole life.
1. I

Title: Lies My Mother Told Me

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for characters of my own creation.

Summary: "Ryan Mars. Although on my birth certificate is says Ryan Elizabeth Mars Echolls. Hello, Daddy." Ryan Mars, at seventeen, has just found her father, and found that her mother has been lying to her, her whole life.

If it wasn't bad enough that now she had to come here everyday, she now was stuck here, after hours, with her mother. Ryan Mars was now sitting at an empty table playing with her napkin at the Class of 2006 Neptune High 20-Year Reunion. Her mom was off talking to some lady with brown and blue hair and poor Ryan was trying to scam some champagne. Sad to say it wasn't working.

Veronica Mars was having more fun then she thought possible. Two years after high school had ended she had practically run away four months pregnant. Eighteen years later she moved back into her old apartment complex with her seventeen year old daughter Ryan, who was acting more and more like her father everyday. She was happy as a clam that Logan hadn't shown up yet. That would have been a mess, and knowing Ryan, she would have caused a scene.

"So that's what Logan's offspring looks like." Mac said over her champagne flute.

"Yep. I swear she's like his evil twin. She's got my brains and his snark." Veronica nodded looking over at her daughter. "The combination is deadly."

"Does he know?" Mac asked in a hushed-concerned voice.

"No." Veronica said without hesitation. "Think about it. All the stuff he was going through before I left, and then adding a baby on top of that. I couldn't do that to him. I couldn't do that to Ryan."

"Mom," Ryan said walking up to her mother. "I'm going to go outside for some air. It's a bit stuffy in here."

"Okay, just don't go far." Ryan rolled her eyes and walked away.

"God, she looks so much like him." Mac breathed.

Veronica just watched as her daughter walked out of the high school doors and out into the courtyard.

Ryan found a worn yellow bench and sat down, putting her purse in her lap and digging through it. "Come on, where are you?" she mumbled. "Aha!" she squealed with triumph as she pulled out a hot pink lighter and a pack of Marlboro cigarettes. She pulled one of the deadly sticks out of its pack and put it between her gloss-shined lips. She tried clicking her lighter on, twice, three times, shake, four times. Ryan groaned loudly as she threw her lighter across the courtyard, immediately digging back into her bag to find another lighter.

Suddenly a flickering light appeared in front of her face. She saw a lighted silver zippo centimeters away from the end of her cigarette. She leaned forward and inhaled the nicotine into her body. She breathed a sigh of relief and looked up towards the zippo holder. He was about her mom's age and looked very well kept. She couldn't help but think she'd seen him before.

"Those will kill you, you know." He said as he took a seat next to her on the bench.

"Slowly but surely." She practically whispered looking down at her fag. She looked over at the stranger. "I'm counting on it."

The man chuckled slightly to himself as he leaned back. "What are you doing here?" He asked bluntly. Ryan looked at him incredulously. "I mean you look pretty young for it to be your twenty year reunion." He amended.

"I'm just here with my mom." Ryan answered as she took a drag.

"Your dad couldn't make it?"

"My dad couldn't even make it to my birth. I highly doubt that a high school reunion would have him running back." Ryan responded.

"Sorry." The man mumbled.

"What about your date?" Ryan said crisply, clearly trying not to acknowledge his apology.

"Ah… Well…" He trailed.

"I see. Your just here to scam on all the people who were ug-os in high school but are now super model status. Nice." Ryan turned her gaze on the man, strangely accusing.

"Not really." He countered.

"Left little wifey at home?" Ryan went on.

"No wife."

"Any rug rats?"

"Not that I know of."

"Unfinished buisness?"

"What's with all the questions?"

"What are you dodging?"

"You're a strange little girl."

"I've been called worse." Ryan said shrugging.

At that moment the school doors flung open and a clearly peeved blonde came through, "Ryan! What did I tell you about smoking!"

"Ronnie?" The man practically whispered.

Ryan stood slowly. "You know her?"

"Logan." Veronica breathed.

"Logan." Ryan repeated. "Logan as in Logan Echolls?" Ryan asked her mother harshly.

Veronica reached for her daughter's hand. "Ryan this isn't the time –" Veronica was cut off.

"Not the time for what mom?" Ryan pulled her arm out of her mother's grip.

" 'Mom'?" Logan repeated.

Ryan whirled on Logan. "Yeah Veronica Mars is my mom." She stuck out her hand. "Ryan Mars. Although on my birth certificate is says Ryan Elizabeth Mars Echolls. Hello, Daddy."

Logan looked from Ryan's out stretched hand to Veronica, to Ryan, his daughter's face. She held so much of his anger in her eyes, that it was too painfully to even think that he missed it before. "The Echolls temper…" He breathed not letting his eyes linger from his daughters.

"Yeah. That's right. And I got it in spades." Ryan picked up her purse of the bench and stormed off toward the parking lot. When she suddenly stopped. She looked up at Logan, who was still staring at her in disbelief and then at her mother, who had tears streaming down her face. "You didn't leave." She said looking at Logan. She then turned to her mother. "You did. You lied to me. Seventeen years, and you could have told me, but you lied to me." Ryan now had tears of her own marring her blushed cheeks. "I trusted you. I held you when you were crying over missing him." Ryan opened her mouth to speak again but instead threw her hands up and turned around.

"Ryan, please, give me a chance to explain!" Veronica said chasing after her daughter.

Ryan turned so fast on her mother that it made her world spin. "No! You had seventeen years of chances and you never took them. Not one." Ryan continued to walk away.

"Ryan where are you going?" Veronica screamed after her daughter.

Ryan turned around and started walking backwards. "You forgot you gave me the keys." Ryan responded shrugging and heading for their jeep Cherokee.

"Ronnie?" Logan said speaking up.

Veronica breathed in audibly and turned to face the man that she loved for every second the world turned.

"Is it true?" He asked sounding strangely vulnerable.

Veronica nodded solemnly.

Logan looked around for something to hit; something to say. It was as if he was a trapped animal with no way of getting out. He began running after Ryan. "Ryan!" he called.

Ryan whipped around "What!" she snapped.

"Whoa, chill, it's just me." Logan said, his hands in the air as if he was surrendering.

"If you don't mind I'd like to be alone right now." Ryan tried saying as calm as she possibly could.

"I know that, trust me, I do, but I think that maybe you shouldn't. You could come to my hotel and stay on the couch." Logan tried to convince her.

Ryan looked around for another option, not finding one. She nodded her head. "Just let me put these in the car." She said holding up car keys.

Ryan turned and walked toward the jeep and opened the unlocked door and placed the keys on the driver seat. She turned back to face Logan.

"We have to stop by my house to get some of my stuff." Logan nodded eagerly.

"Where's your house?" He asked leading her to a bright yellow X-terra.

"Do you remember where mom used to live in high school?" Ryan asked climbing into the passenger side. Logan nodded. "That's where I live."

The ride to the apartment complex was more then a little strange. It was completely silent. Logan even had to look over and check that Ryan wasn't one of his booze induced hallucinations.

"Stop looking at me." Ryan said tonelessly still looking out the window.

"Sorry." Logan mumbled clearly embarrassed.

Ryan audibly sighed. "Sorry, it's just I've imagined this moment for so long that it kind of got redundant. And now that it's finally happened, I don't know, I guess I'm a little bit peeved."

Logan turned into the parking lot and pulled into an empty space. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"Yeah, sure." Ryan said with a slight nod.

Logan followed Ryan up to the second floor balcony and to the apartment 110. Ryan dug in her purse and pulled out another set of keys. "Grandpa?" She called into the obviously, empty apartment.

"You didn't tell me Keith was here!" Logan said in a stage whisper.

"Chill out, he's bed-ridden. Just stay in the living room and he won't see you." Ryan explained quickly. She turned and walked down the hall into what used to be Veronica's room. "Grandpa," She said as she pulled out a backpack and started pulling things out of draws and shoving them in. "If mom asks tell her I'm staying at Lily's. Okay?"

"Do you need a ride?" Keith asked from a room of off the hallway.

Logan saw Ryan smile to herself, "No, Lily's outside." Ryan grabbed a teddy bear off her bed and shoved it into her bag and zipped it up. "Okay, bye Grandpa. Love you."

"Love you too, sweetheart. Hey, grab your pills." Keith answered.

Ryan visible stiffened. "Okay." She mumbled. Ryan marched into the kitchen and grabbed a prescription pill bottle off of the microwave. She looked up at Logan expectantly. "Let's go."

As soon as Ryan shut the door of the X-terra she pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. Logan could hear a female voice answer. "Hey Lil, I need a favor."

"When do you not need a favor?" Lily Kane asked with sarcasm.

"I'm staying at my dad's tonight. I need you to cover." Ryan said never missing a beat.

"Wait you found your dad? You better give me details Monday morning!"

Ryan smiled at her best friend. "I promise."

Ryan hung up the phone and slipped it back into purse. "Let me guess, Lily's last name is Kane, and her father's name is Duncan."

"Yeah, how did you guess?"

"Let's just say we go way back."

"Dad!" Veronica shouted as she burst through the door. "Dad?" She jogged down the hall to her daughter's room to see if Ryan was there, she wasn't. "Daddy?" Veronica went into her father's room to see that he was just coming out of a sleep-induced coma. "Dad, did Ryan come home?"

"Yeah, she said that she was going to Lily's." He answered trying to sit up.

"Thanks." Veronica ran from the room, towards the kitchen. She grabbed the phone off of the cradle and punched in the familiar number.

"Hello, Kane residence." Lily Kane answered perkily.

"Lily, its Ryan's mom. Is she there?" Veronica asked desperately into the phone.

"Yes and no." Lily said defiantly. "She is here, but she's not accepting phone calls."

"Lily, this is not a time to press my buttons. Where is my daughter?" Veronica yelled letting her emotions get the best of her.

"I told you she's here but she doesn't want to talk to you." Lily responded. Lily knew that if Ryan needed her to cover for her, she was usually mad at her mom or she was just with her boyfriend. And since that wasn't the case, she used the process of elimination.

"Put your father on." Veronica said monotony.

"Uh, Mrs. Mars my dad is kind of busy-" Lily said trying to pull and excuse out of her ass.

"Put him on. Now."

"Okay, okay." Lily held the phone to her chest and walked over to her father's study, where he was watching a baseball game on ESPN. "Dad, Ryan's mom wants to talk to you."

Duncan looked up and held out his hand. Once the phone was securely in his hand Lily made a mad dash for the door. Duncan put the phone to his ear. "Okay, Lily just ran from the room. What happened?"

"Why didn't you tell me that Logan was going to be at the reunion?" Veronica asked accusingly.

"Uh, because I didn't know. Why? Veronica what happened?" Duncan asked sincerely, leaning forward in his chair.

"Ryan knows! She ran off, and she's not here, and she told dad that she was over at your house with Lily but I know that's not true. I think she's with Logan." Veronica rambled.

"Okay, I get why your upset, but if she's with Logan then, isn't she safe?" Duncan asked idly playing with the remote control. "I mean he is her father."

Veronica sighed into the phone. "I know, I know. It's just that… God, I just don't want her to hate me. I know Logan does but…"

"Well, right now, they both have a right to hat you but I don't think that Ryan could ever hate you." Duncan said turning the TV off and walking around to his desk. "And as for Logan, if he thinks about it, he might understand. But you know Logan; thinking is not really is forte."

"Alright, I think that I'll have some burboun and take a nap." Veronica could here Duncan chuckle on the other line right before she hung up. Veronica slipped the phone back in the cradle and walked over to a bookshelf in the living room. She picked up a blank tap and slipped it into the tape player. She sat on the couch with her knees to her chest watching her three-year-old daughter on the screen.


	2. II

Title: Lies My Mother Told Me

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for characters of my own creation.

Summary: "Ryan Mars. Although on my birth certificate is says Ryan Elizabeth Mars Echolls. Hello, Daddy." Ryan Mars, at seventeen, has just found her father, and found that her mother has been lying to her, her whole life.

Veronica must have sat for hours watching videotape upon videotape of Ryan growing up. Growing up in Portland, Sacramento, and finally east LA.

It was undeniable that Ryan was gorgeous. She was born with a full head of strawberry blonde curls and the most wondrous pair of eyes Veronica had ever seen. Ryan's left eye was a dark blue color and the right eye was a green, almost brown color. It was amazing to see when she experienced intense emotion. As she grew older her eye began to match more into a light green color. Veronica barely saw that intentness of them any more.

After the accident Ryan had learned how to somewhat control her emotions. She had built a brick wall the size of China that kept Veronica out of her daughter's life.

Veronica continued to watch her daughter's smile brighten up the screen. Ryan had just taken her first ride on the back of Weevil's motorcycle. Her golden brown locks were windblown and her cheeks were rosy.

"_How was it, Ry?" _Veronica said from behind the camera.

"_Oh my God!" _Ryan gushed getting off the bike and rushing toward her mother. Weevil could be seen behind her with a smile just as happy as Ryan's. _"Mom, that was so cool! I can't believe I never did that before!" _Ryan turned toward Weevil and jumped onto his back. _"Hey, Weevil, when you get too old for this thing, wanna let me have it?" _Ryan winked.

Weevil laughed heartedly. _"Somehow I doubt that V would appreciate that too much." _Weevil was still chuckling as Veronica put the camera down and ran toward Weevil and her daughter. The screen became blurry as tears sprang to Veronica's eyes for the second time that night.

"So, are you hungry?" Logan asked as he locked the hotel room door behind him and Ryan.

Ryan looked around the hotel suite at the top floor of the Sunset Regent in LA. "No, not really." She mumbled. "Dude, I knew you were rich, but damn."

"How did you know I was rich." Logan asked pouring himself a glass of water.

"Well, since mom never talked about you, and all I knew was your name, I would Google you every now and then." Ryan said bashfully.

"So what did Google tell you?" Logan said almost intrigued.

"That your dad, my grandfather, Aaron Echolls, was a famous movie star until he was sent to jail on charges of murder, statutory rape, two counts of attempted murder, and child abuse." Ryan breathed out and began again. "Your mother, my grandmother, Lynn Echolls, jumped off a bridge your junior year of high school, that is if I did my math right. You have a stepsister, Trina Echolls, who has stared in numerous adult films. Apparently acting doesn't run in the family. Uhm, about three years ago you were arrested for drunk driving, got your license suspended, and was sent to rehab for a consecutive amount of ninety days. Now your are, supposedly a recovered alcoholic. _That _seems to run in the family." Ryan clapped her hands together as she faced her father. "So, you gonna point me to the shower or are you gonna let me get lost finding it?"

Logan nodded, "Down the hall to the left."

Ryan picked her bag up and followed his simple directions. Logan sat down on the over stuffed couch and put his head in his hands. He didn't know what he should do. Should he get a blood test to make sure? Or should he believe what he's been told? He wasn't able to make a decision when the phone rang. "Hello?"

"Yes, Mr. Echolls, there is a Ms. Mars on line one. Do you wish to speak to her?" The front desk attendant asked.

Logan sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, put her on." Logan heard a click and then ringing.

"Of all the reunions in all the world, you had to walk into mine." He heard the voice say from the other line.

"It was my reunion, too, Ronnie." Logan answered.

"Yeah," Veronica trailed. "So, I'm guessing that Ryan's with you."

"Yeah, she's taking a shower right now." Logan said absently as looked over at the bathroom door.

"Logan-"

"Ronnie, could we not get into this now. I mean I've had a hard couple of weeks as it is and now I have a seventeen year old daughter in my bathroom." Logan sighed loudly. "How 'bout you come over tomorrow morning around ten-ish and we all could have that continental breakfast the hotel keeps telling me about." He offered.

"Okay." Veronica whispered into the phone. "I'll be there."

"Or be square." Logan added. He heard her light chuckle and a click on the other line as he put the phone in its cradle.

"Was that mom?" Ryan asked with a white terry cloth towel wrapped like a turban on her head, baggy pajama pants and an East LA Memorial High athletics tee shirt.

"East LA?" Logan asked nodding toward her shirt.

Ryan looked down with a trace of a smile on her lips. "Yeah, it was the last place I called home."

Ryan moved to sit across from her father on a different couch with her legs Indian style. "How many places have you called 'home'?" Logan asked.

"Uh, four." Ryan recited. Logan nodded for her to continue. "Well, I was born in Portland, Oregon and we lived there until I was about five. We had to move because mom was dating this guy who ended up hitting her. So we moved to Sacramento and lived with Uncle Wallace. He got married when I was ten and mom thought that we had over stayed our welcome so we moved to East LA and lived with mom's friend Weevil. We stayed there up until the… uh… my sixteenth birthday."

Logan knew something was up when she faltered at the end. "When did you move here?"

"In May." Ryan answered.

"When's your birthday?"

"Jan… April?"

Logan made a loud buzzer noise. "Wrong answer. What happened in between your birthday and when you moved here?"

Ryan looked up and smiled a bittersweet smile. "Rehab." She answered flawlessly. "I wasn't joking when I said it ran in the family."

Logan just stared at her. She was so much like him, it was shocking. "Why?" His voiced had turned horse from the shock.

"Don't tell mom I told you this, because she had to find out from the cops. I wouldn't tell her." Ryan breathed in and began playing with the teddy bear she had stuffed in her bag earlier. "It was my seventeenth birthday and me and my best friend, at the time, Zoe, had gone to this party and got completely wasted. I knew it was a mistake to drive but it wasn't that far to her house so I figured I'd be okay. I wrapped my car around a telephone pole. I was in a coma for two months, but Zoe… Zoe died. Her parents already didn't like me so when I woke up I was charged with vehicular manslaughter, but since it was my first offence I got off with 60 days rehabilitation and 100 hours of community service. Lily's dad Duncan thought that it would be a good idea that I got out of East LA and so we moved to Neptune, and I went to rehab. I was almost done with my 60 days when I tried to kill myself. As you can tell that didn't work. And I was kept for another month. By the time I finally got out of rehab school was practically over and I had already taken the finals so I just started my senior year in September like everyone else."

"Wow," Logan breathed. He looked down into Ryan's lap at the bear, and noticed something red. "Can I see that?" Ryan handed him the bear. It was wearing a shirt that said 'I wuv you beary much!'. Logan smiled genuinely. "I gave this to your mom at a carnival we went to."

"I know. She told me." Ryan admitted. Logan looked up expectantly. "She told me so many stories about you two that, even if I never met you, it's like I had already known you."

"You better get some sleep, we're having breakfast with your mom tomorrow." Logan handed her the teddy bear back and stood up from the couch.

"Gee, sounds like that's gonna be a blast." Ryan mumbled as she climbed under the covers.

"Just go to sleep Ryan." Logan sighed pleadingly.

Ryan heard the strange certainty in his voice and obeyed.

Logan went to the master bedroom and sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands.

"Logan?" Logan looked up to see Ryan standing in the doorway. "Did you ever think about her?"

"Everyday." Logan said with out hesitation.

Ryan nodded and walked out of site. Logan rubbed his face and headed toward the shower. He must have stood there under the water for thirty minutes just letting the small expensive pebbles hit his back. When Logan got out he walked to the kitchen for something to drink. That's when he spotted her. His daughter already fast asleep.

She was absolutely gorgeous. Her long golden brown hair was swept across her face. She had so much of his hostility, even in sleep. He was so angry that he hadn't noticed it before. He knelt down on the floor in front of Ryan's face and tentatively lifted his hand and brushed her hair out of her eyes. It reminded him of all the times that he had touched Veronica's.

_She was scared. He could tell. She had that look in her eye that indicated instinctual fear. _

"_Veronica," Logan said as he stepped toward her with tepidness. "I'm going to kiss you, and you don't have to kiss me back, it's just something that I have to do." _

_Veronica's cerulean eyes went wide but she nodded. Logan stepped forward the rest of the way so that when she breathed her chest would rise against his. He brought his hand to her cheek and stroked the tears away with his thumb. _

"_Three, two," He whispered. He pulled her face closer until their lips were milimeters away. "One." _

_When their lips touched something in both of them ignited. For Logan it was a feeling that had been squandered for far too long, but for Veronica it was something that she had never felt before. _

_Veronica's arms automatically wrapped around Logan's neck and hung on as if her life depended on it. _

_When they broke apart they were both breathless, foreheads touching, never breaking the intamacy. "Logan," Veronica took a few rapid gulps of air before continuing. She pulled away and looked into his chocolate eyes with such clarity that he tilted his head in contimplation. "I love you." _

The insistent buzzer of the alarm clock dragged Logan out of the distant memory as he rolled over to turn it off. It was only mere seconds after he closed his eyes that the phone began to ring. He let out an exasperated sigh as he yet again rolled over. "What?" he barked into the phone.

"You better start waking her up." Veronica's voice flittered through the reciever. "She sleeps like you."

Logan automatically smirked at that comment. "Okay," He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and put his feet on the ground. "I'm up."

"Logan just because you put your feet on the floor does not mean that you are up." Logan could almost see the hand poised on Veronica's hip.

Logan chuckled lightly as he sat up. "Alright I'm sitting up. Anything else to make you happy Sugarpuss?"

"No, that will be all," And more quietly, "For now."

"What was that?" Logan asked intruiged as he pulled the phone closer to his ear.

"Nothing. Go wake up your daughter." Veronica hung up the phone, giving Logan a new spring in his step. Meaning to, or not.


	3. III

Title: Lies My Mother Told Me

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for characters of my own creation.

Summary: "Ryan Mars. Although on my birth certificate is says Ryan Elizabeth Mars Echolls. Hello, Daddy." Ryan Mars, at seventeen, has just found her father, and found that her mother has been lying to her, her whole life.

She hadn't seen him in weeks. It was the night her and Duncan split for the last and final time. The break up was monumental. There was yelling and crying and screaming. But most of all there was an enormous epiphany. For the second time Veronica had gotten upset that Logan was all over some girl and Duncan finally caught on.

"_Why does it bother you so much?" He asked as she walked away from the grope fest Logan was displaying for all eyes to see at the drunken beach party of the week._

"_Because he's my…" Veronica didn't realize how much her emotions had gotten a hold of her. She stared at Duncan half-wishing he didn't know what she was going to say and half wishing that he did. _

"_He's your what?" Duncan knew, he didn't need to ask, but in a masochistic way he wanted to hear it. "Come on, Veronica, he's your what!" _

"_I was going to say that he's," Veronica looked down at the sand knowing that there was no way around it, "that he's my boyfriend." _

"_But he's not is he?" Duncan asked almost begging. "Do you want him to be?" _

_Veronica looked up. Duncan had tears in his eyes. "Duncan, please, don't do this. Not here." _

"_Then where Veronica!" Duncan was yelling now. "Back at the hotel, where once your done breaking up with me, you can go fuck him in my bed!" _

_Veronica was speechless. Duncan had never risen his voice to her. Even when Logan smashed her lamp in her apartment she hadn't been as frightened as she is now. _

"_Come on Veronica! Isn't that right! Why don't you go fuck him right now!" Duncan had grabbed Veronica by her arms and threw her in Logan's general direction. "Go!" Duncan shouted at her. _

_Logan had come out of no where. His fist flew at Duncan's face. He had hit him right in the nose. Veronica had heard it crack. Duncan fell to the sand and stained it with his blood. Veronica could hear this light chuckle come from Duncan. "Like mother, like daughter, right?" Duncan stood up and walked to his car. _

_Logan looked down at Veronica, who had now crumpled her self into a ball, sobbing. Logan kneeled down in front of her. "Ronnie?" Logan tentatively brought a hand to brush her hair out of her face. At that immediate touch Veronica launched herself into Logan's arms. "Shh, it's okay." He whispered as he held her. _

_When Veronica's sobs had settled, Logan pulled her back to look at her. "He didn't hurt you did he?" Veronica shook her head. "Okay, come on. Let's get you home." _

Veronica didn't remember much of the ride home. She remembered that she kissed Logan on her couch and then she remembered waking up and he was gone. He hadn't been at school in weeks. Neither had Duncan but she didn't really want to see him. Veronica had looked all over Neptune. She called his cell phone until the voice mail was full, she had alarms on all of his credit cards, but the only thing used was his bankcard to take out twenty thousand three weeks ago. Logan was smart, he knew that she would be looking for him and he didn't want to be found. Until a week ago during fifth period English when she got a text from his cell phone. "Meet me at the Neptune Boardwalk 11am on Saturday our spot".

'_Our spot' was a bench at the very end of the boardwalk. No one ever went down there except Logan and Veronica. In the summer when they were dating they would meet there when Veronica had a lunch break from work. It was where Logan had given her the teddy bear. _

_Veronica looked at her watch for what must have been the twentieth time. 11:02 it read. Veronica was usually patient when it came to clients and waiting for the money shot, but this had to do with her heart and possibly the rest of her life. Veronica stood up and walked to the railing of the boardwalk and looked into the ocean. She could remember a time when Logan had once tried to teach her how to surf. _

_Veronica lay there on her red and white striped beach towel trying to get some sun, when a sudden shadow came over her. She smiled to herself, her eyes still closed. _

"_What's the craziest thing you've done lately?" The shadow asked lying next to her. _

"_Letting you put tanning oil on my back." Veronica said with out hesitation as she rolled over to face her boyfriend. _

_Logan shook his head. "No that's not crazy enough." _

"_Well what would qualify as 'crazy enough'?" _

_Logan leaned in a whispered to her, "Let me teach you to surf." _

_Veronica threw her head back and laughed out loud. "Me? Surf? Now who's crazy?" _

_Logan stood up and stuck out his hand to help her up. "Come on. It'll be fun. Trust me." He knew that those particular two words could get her to do anything he wanted. But then again it worked for him too. _

_The surf lesson hadn't gotten too far, because they found out early that they couldn't keep their hands off each other. Veronica smiled into the ocean, watching the ghosts of her and Logan swim to the surface, lips still locked from their under water make out session. _

_Veronica was still reminiscing when two strong arms leaned against the railing locking her in. "What's the craziest thing you've done lately?" the body behind her asked. _

_Veronica turned in his arms. "I fell in love with Logan Echolls." She said staring into his chocolate brown eyes. _

_Logan's arms engulfed Veronica's petite form as soon as her words fell from her mouth. Their lips tangled in a fight of desperation, dominance and above all love. Her fingers tangled in his hair as he pulled her body closer to his. If it was possible they had melded into one being in that very instance. The whole world had disappeared from the background. All they could feel or see or want at that moment was each other. Veronica knew right then that she would never forget that kiss._

And she didn't. Eighteen years later and that kiss still replays in her mind. That kiss played as she watched Logan and her daughter, their daughter, walk into the banquet room at the Neptune Grand. Ryan had spotted her mother first and started walking toward her. Veronica stood up from the table and embraced her daughter. "I'm so sorry baby." She whispered.

Ryan nodded. "I know mom."

Logan stuffed his hands in his pockets as he watched the scene unfold. Veronica noticed and let go of her daughter. She walked up to Logan and threw her arms around him. Logan was caught off guard but not for long. He soon wrapped his arms around Veronica's waist. Veronica buried her face in the crook of his neck. "What's the craziest thing you've done lately?" Veronica whispered. She could feel Logan tighten his grip.

"I fell in love." He answered only loud enough that Veronica could hear.

"Ah hem." Ryan cleared her throat. "Could we eat before you guys conceive another child please."

"Ryan." Veronica warned. Logan just chuckled and sat down opposite of Veronica.

A waiter in all black and white walked up to their table, with a note pad in hand. "Can I get you anything?" he asked looking around the table.

"Yes, Todd," Ryan said reading his nametag. "I would like an orange juice and a cup of coffee, a ham and cheese omelet, the hash browns, bacon, and the silver dollar pancakes with whip cream and extra syrup. Oh and can you put a cherry on that?"

Todd was furiously writing down everything that Ryan said, and nodding at every interval.

"Oh and is the fruit buffet open?"

"Yes miss." Todd answered. Ryan smiled up at him with appreciation. "What about you ma'am?" Todd asked Veronica.

"The same only with oatmeal instead of pancakes." Veronica said handing over her menu.

"Sir?" Todd asked Logan.

"A coffee, scrambled eggs, and toast." Logan answered. Todd picked up all the menus and left. Logan looked at both Veronica and Ryan with a light hearted chuckle.

"What?" Veronica asked incredulously.

"I just think it's funny that's all." Logan said clasping his hand behind his head.

"What's funny?" Ryan asked looking from her father to her mother.

Veronica finally got it. "In high school Logan would always make fun of how much I ate. Apparently you caught the eating gene."

Ryan began to pout; "I don't eat that much." She said playing with her napkin.

Veronica smiled at the normalcy of the whole conversation but she needed to know if it was going to last. "Ryan, why don't you go get some fruit." Ryan got the hint and left the table as quickly as she could.

"Why didn't you just tell her she had to go to the bathroom, it would have been less obvious." Logan observed, sarcasm dripping off of every syllable.

Veronica nodded. "I just wanted to know… if you were okay. With this whole thing." She said gesturing her hand to the now empty chair next to her.

"You got some brass balls." Logan leaned across the table. "The only reason I'm in the same room with you right now is for that girl," he punctuated the sentence by pointing over to Ryan. "She deserves it."

"Logan, you have to understand why I did what I did." Veronica pleaded.

"I know why you left but that in no fucking way justifies you taking my child away from me."

"You say she deserves this? Did she deserve a drunk father?" Veronica asked in a furious hiss.

"You goddamn know that I would have stopped drinking if I knew you were pregnant. You didn't give me a chance." Logan hissed back.

"Oh please."

"You don't know a damn thing about me." Logan pointed his finger at her, his emotions getting the best of him. "When you left something in me broke. You have no fucking clue what happened to me to make me who I am right now."

"And who the hell is that?" Veronica asked leaning back in her chair arms crossed.

"My father." Ryan interrupted. "You know, mom, you're amazing. All this time you told me he left, and now your actually trying to make it come true." Ryan slammed down her plate of fruit on the table and turned on her heel.

"Ryan-" Veronica stood about to chase after her mother.

"No, you know how much it fucked up my life not having a dad! Do you know what it felt like to have Uncle Wallace come with me to Daddy-Daughter day at school! Do you know what it's like to have a daddy complex!" Ryan shouted at her mother

"Ryan, please, calm down." Veronica begged.

"Fuck you! Just because you grew up with one parent doesn't mean that you get to condemn me to the same fate as you." With that Ryan walked out of the banquet hall to leave a distraught mother in tears.

Logan looked after his daughter and then up at the woman he loved for so long. He realized then that something in her broke too.


End file.
